Asu no yoi teramu tsukuyo wa katayori ni koyoi ni yorite yonagaku aranamu

明日の宵照らむ月夜は片寄りに
今夜に寄りて夜長くあらなむ

Roma-ji: Asu no yoi teramu tsukuyo wa katayori ni koyoi ni yorite yonagaku aranamu
English Translation: The moonlit night
that should shine tomorrow eve,
all to one side
let it lean toward tonight,
and make this night last longer
Meaning: Let the moonlit night meant to shine tomorrow evening lean wholly to one side, gathering into tonight, so that this night may be long.
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1072

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the Moon"
So loath is the poet to lose tonight's moonlight that he wishes tomorrow's moonlit night could be drawn into tonight to lengthen it. The witty idea of moonlit nights as things that can be divided and shifted about is the poem's special charm.
Following the preceding poem, which lamented that the night grew late while the poet waited for the moon, this poem turns to the wish that the night itself might be made longer. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "tomorrow eve," refers to the following evening and sets up the contrast between tonight and tomorrow.
In the second line, "that should shine," the auxiliary "mu" is conjectural, "the moonlit night that will shine." It takes as its subject a night that has not yet come.
The third line, "all to one side," means leaning toward one side, pulling tomorrow's moonlit night entirely over toward tonight.
The fourth line, "let it lean toward tonight," repeats "yori" from "katayori" in the third line, meaning to gather toward tonight. The repetition heightens the urgency of the wish.
In the final line, "and make this night last longer," "namu" is a particle of wishing addressed to something else: may the night be long. The line has one extra syllable (jiamari).
Source: Manyoshu
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